Posts by Dagney

41

My story of becoming a circuit overseer after Kin Suen visited our congregation.

by ExCircuitOverseer in

jw
friends

here is my story of becoming a missionary after having kin suen (pronounced “shin”) as my circuit overseer.

my father wanted me to go to college, but since he wasn’t a witness, i knew he just didn’t understand how close we were to the end.

i had actually become a circuit overseer!

Dagney

Thank you for sharing your story. I’m from LA and I remember Br. Suen. Yesterday I was driving up the 101 to meet two friends I met here, passing that old assembly hall site. We were meeting to see the movie Wicked, lol. Later at dinner, Aude Sapere and I actually were sharing memories of attending assemblies at that hall, it was an unusual one for sure.

So glad you and your family made it out. Better late than never! I was pretty mad at myself for staying as long as I did…feeling for years they were making it all up as they went along. Now I’m retiring in “this system”(TM), when I wasn’t supposed to reach my 20th year!!!

Congratulations on your freedom!🥂

85

Reddit thread - ‘Organization Finally Suggesting to Plan for Retirement’

by LongHairGal in

jw
friends

this information is supposed to be in the upcoming march wt.

(i don’t go on jw dot org).

it would sound like they are hinting at a change in thinking.. in my opinion, any such change would be yet another slap in the face to faithful pimis along with those other recent changes.. there are so many heartfelt responses on that thread and a lot of justified anger.. don’t know what to say except that i’m so glad i never listened to the religion all those years ago.

Dagney

Money does provide a measure of protection.

Boy doesn't that just state the obvious, from a corporation that will gladly run up fines to avoid paying an abuse victim! I can just see the writing committee parsing the wording..."don't say too much! Give 'em an inch and they'll take a mile!" Which is true of course lol.

I started soooooooooooo late saving for retirement...even though I had my doubts about the system ending, it was hard to break the mindset. I know plenty of bros who invested and have healthy portfolios and property. One brother told me "save like the end isn't coming and live like the end is coming soon." Okaaay.

18

The Watchtower—Study Edition | January 2025 Husbands, Honor Your Wife

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

14 a husband who physically or verbally abuses his wife needs to take additional steps to repair his relationship with jehovah and with his wife.

what are these steps?

first, he recognizes that he has a serious problem.

Dagney

Thanks R & R. Something about the way it's written just bugs me.

My dad treated my mother horribly, and she was told to "suffer in silence" by the brothers for years. He was counseled, but it never worked and got worse and worse with alcohol. Eventually we ended up leaving him when I was a teenager, believe it or not, on the advice of a local elder. This was a step not often advised by the brothers, but in our case it was and I'm forever thankful. It got ugly, and I was worried he would kidnap me for a few years.

Abuse against any individual is a complex problem and rarely improves unless serious help from professionals and law enforcement is part of the treatment. IMHO. Sinning against Jah would not be enough to stop the rage and violence of an abuser. The brothers are ill equipped to advise in these situations. $.02

18

The Watchtower—Study Edition | January 2025 Husbands, Honor Your Wife

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

14 a husband who physically or verbally abuses his wife needs to take additional steps to repair his relationship with jehovah and with his wife.

what are these steps?

first, he recognizes that he has a serious problem.

Dagney

Is that for real? The excerpt paragraph in the OP? Something about it is so offensive to me.

Or maybe everything they write seems offensive to me now.

10

Your First Christmas Tree, Christmas Lights, Other Christmas Decoration/Custom

by NotFormer in

jw
friends

as someone who never grew up in the shadow of the wt, i love reading accounts of people who began to wake up and think that the wt wasn't all that it represents itself to be*.

and especially when they see that the things that they were told to avoid were harmless at worst, and quite often fun.

christmas is a prime example.

Dagney

I remember so many times standing on my soapbox trying to reason with a coworker or non JW BF about the commercial aspect of the gift giving and season. They would patiently look a me and nod their heads, and say but "it's about family and friends getting together!." I didn't get it. Although, I loved the lights and sparkle and even being out and about in the holiday rush.

Fast forward a few decades and I am now out of JW. Fortunately I had relatives who were not JW's so we would have a "winter gift exchange" after the holidays that was every bit as festive as the holidays. I remember I was out at a shopping center with my list, and I started to cry. I finally got it. Yes it is commercial, but it is also about thinking of others...taking the time...what would they like/use/need. I finally finally got it.

I am holiday "lite" only because I live alone and don't have tons of time to put up/take down/store. I have collected things through the past 20 years or so that I enjoy putting up, and I just bought a 5 ft skinny pop up tree with lights for my little tiny desert place.

I always tell my coworkers "don't get me anything let's just go to dinner." But they like giving just like I really like giving. Yep, I finally get it.

22

Memory hole, international conspiracy, and the JW international network

by slimboyfat in

can anyone else who was around 15 to 20 years ago remember an odd story about jw missionaries being stopped at the swiss/italian border with american bonds worth billions of dollars in their possession?

because i can find little to no information about it anywhere online, yet at the time i am sure i recall it being reported by different mainstream news sources, including the bbc.

why do some news stories seem to disappear from the internet altogether?

Dagney

The JW church has grown through aggressive proselytism/marketing and resisted schisms through hierarchically directed aggressive shunning, this has resulted in the demographics you seem to be lauding.

Exactly my belief. I call it "Avon" marketing. I don't like Avon. But if a coworker brings we a catalog, I look through it and would always buy a mascara or lipstick or whatever even though I don't really need it. Same with the active proselytizing for all those years, and especially 70's, 80's and 90's. There is no way the current activity, dying/exiting of millions, and attendance support any growth whatsoever. D2D is not what it used to be, and the privileged can stand by their carts for hours with 0 results. Parking lots half full and regional attendance a fraction of what they were...do the math.

WBTS have lied all along about their numbers, ask any secretary who reported numbers. They will obfuscate anyone and anything for the preservation of the corporation. They know they what the future holds, and investments will go along way to keep the corporation alive.

19

New here

by AdamCzarnobay in

jw
friends

i left the organization in 2017.. was in several congregations in the north west of england.

i just wanted to say thank you to all of you that have posted on here over the years, it really helped me to see the truth about the organization.

i lurked here for many years under an anonymous login and then finally plucked up the courage to write my disassociation letter.. adam.

Dagney

Welcome! It's interesting what triggers our intuition about things.

Congratulations on your journey to freedom and enjoy!

19

Convention attendance

by joe134cd in

just heard from a pimi cousin who recently attended a convention, and remarked about the low attendance.

peak was about 500. i remember that circuit, in years past, had attendances of 1000+.

it's been over a decade now since i last attended a jw convention.

Dagney

Reading about the low attendance "happifies" me. lol

39

I've done it: Christmas Lights Outside

by StephaneLaliberte in

lets see if that causes a problem.

i've been inactive for a very long time now (like 10+ years), so, i don't expect to hear anything from it, but my parents are worried i'll get df.

lets see what happens.

Dagney

You know what Bob Dylan says, "you gotta serve somebody." lol

If you like lights, why not have lights, or cactus or rose bushes or neon signs. That is when you are doing what you were meant to do...be yourself.

At least it's not being a slave to a real estate corporation disguised as a religion. That ship has sailed and has no relevancy whatsoever to anything or anybody.

47

Leaked Annual Meeting Video: "Expect Sudden Changes" Jeffrey Jackson

by raymond frantz in

jw
friends

https://youtu.be/uxqqyrrffow?si=wo0jotyvjg76oljk.

well that's sort of related to the next talk on our program brother jeffrey jackson will discuss the theme don't be surprised by sudden changes, brother jeff you have our.

attention well i'm sure we all agree with this fact in recent years there have been a lot of changes even since the last annual meeting there have been many changes some of them perhaps are a little surprising or may seem to be sudden but you know brothers and sisters when we look back on how these changes have come we can see that jehovah has gradually prepared us for each of these adjustments and changes let's review some of the recent changes we've had what changes have we seen with regard to our understand understanding of bible teachings at the 2021 annual meeting we received an adjusted understanding of john 529 it was explained that the resurrection of judgment will not be a judgment of condemnation rather it will be more like a period of probation the unrighteous mentioned at acts 24:15 will have an opportunity to gain everlasting life but their names will not be written wr in the book of life at the time of their resurrection to have their names eventually written in that book these ones will need to respond positively to the great educational work that will take place during the thousand-year reign then at the annual meeting in 2023 we gained enhanced insight into what we do know and what we don't know concerning jehovah's judgments we learned that the door of opportunity for people to take a stand for the kingdom does not shut when the great tribulation starts with the destruction of false religion at that time perhaps some will be like the egyptians in moses day who took a last minute stand and joined the exodus of god's people at the same annual meeting we adjusted our views with regard to jehovah's judgments of those who died in the flood and those who were destroyed in sodom and gomorrah also at that annual meeting an adjustment was made regarding the reporting of our time and activity in our preaching work instead of focusing on reports we try to make good use of every opportunity to witness then we receive the 2024 governing body update number two in that update we saw the need to adjust how we interact with those who have committed serious sins and have been removed from the congregation what other major adjustments have we recently seen in our preaching work the emphasis now is on studing bible studies and making disciples not on distributing literature to that end the focus is on studying meaningful conversations not just on using memorized presentations were you surprised by these adjustments perhaps so but as we look back we see how one adjustment in understanding gradually helped us with the next adjustment isn't it true that gradually jehovah has prepared us and when we look back on it we see how logical this training has been to refine our understanding but events in the world likewise have changed it's true sometimes in the world you have sudden changes for example the pandemic but often times change in the world is gradual isn't it true with regard to the view of morality homosexuality abortion even what's acceptable and not acceptable with regard to conduct all of that has happened gradually in the world and it's not until you look back and see how different the world is today with regard to those matters that we see that there have been a lot of changes but this can be dangerous because as things gradually change we may get used to gradual change and forget that there are some sudden changes about to occur uh let's take our bibles please and if you turn with me to the book of luke chap 21 now this is an example of sudden change in luke chap 21 uh notice there in verse 34 the words of our lord jesus are recorded and he said in verse 34 but pay attention to yourselves that your hearts never become weighed down with oving and heavy drinking and anxieties of life and suddenly suddenly that they be instantly instantly upon you it's interesting to note that jesus had already said that this day he was referring to would occur at a time that we don't think is likely so what lesson do we learn from what jesus said it's a warning isn't it that we can't just sit back and think well things are gradually going to develop we know which way it's going and maybe it's not going to happen yet you know got a little bit more wiggle room there with regard to the schedule but you see that's dangerous thinking now what we're going to do is consider two examples of areas where perhaps we could be a little guilty with regard to that for example our view as with regard to the number of anointed ones remaining on the earth now for many years what did we think we thought well that number would go down and down and down and down now i don't know about you but me i you when that report came out just how many how many partakers and and what were we thinking we probably you maybe we didn't say it but we were thinking you know the number will go down down down down and there'll be just a couple of old guys in a wheelchair who will get their reward well i'm exaggerating but that was sort of the feeling wasn't it but now what have we seen in recent years those numbers have gone up and up and not only that younger brothers have been appointed on the governing body now i know what you're all thinking two new ones how old are they we know you're not googling now but you will be but you see we need to be careful about what we're thinking with regard to the number of anointed ones left on earth you see 19 years ago i was appointed on the governing body even i thought i was too young now they tell me i'm not so young anymore but do we see the point what does the bible actually tell us with regard to this well it doesn't say the number would just dwindle down to just having a few uh older ones left no the great crowd of other sheep will be judged on the basis of how they deal with

Dagney

hirsute Bro Jackson’s

LOLOLOL. Good one!